cars

Can luxury car brands market green vehicles?

Luxury car brands have a problem. They want to be green, honest! But luxury, according to The New York Times, means "bigger, stronger, faster." None of those adjectives translate into "fuel economy."

They're trying, though! Aston Martin, for instance, turned a tiny Toyota smart car into the fancy Cygnet, which has 1.3 liter engine. Mercedes is working on smaller cars, some with hybrid or electric engines. Lexus has a "compact luxury hybrid hatchback" (whatever that is).

GM: Bikes will make you unattractive to ladies

Enough people thought this was a good idea that the ad made it into print. How did this ad meeting go? "We need to convince the youth to buy giant boat-cars." "Okay, tell them bikes will cockblock them." "Perfect, let's call it a day." Nice work, Don Draper. GM has clearly been getting a lot […]

‘I will rather invest in cycle tracks than freeways,’ says Danish politician

Denmark is going to be the best cycling country in the world. Cycling leads to better public health, a cleaner urban environment, and helps us reach our climatic goals. So I will rather invest in cycle tracks than freeways!

So sayeth Margrethe Vestager, the new Danish minister of the economy and the interior. Vestager wants to increase the share of trips taken by bicycle 50 percent in 10 years, with at least half of those trips representing a replacement of a car with a bike.

Car-crushing mayor wins an Ig Nobel prize

Remember Arturas Zuokas, the mayor of Vilnius, who ran over a Mercedes parked in a bike lane USING A TANK? He's just won an Ig Nobel prize, the coveted award for research (or, you know, a mayoral publicity stunt) that first makes people laugh, then makes them think.

Ask Umbra: Can I recycle my car seat?

A reader wonders what to do with an expired car seat. Umbra buckles down.

MythBusters weigh in on motorcycle emissions

You've probably heard that motorcycles are more fuel-efficient than cars, and therefore better for the environment. I mean, they're practically bikes, right? It sounds plausible, but how do you find out if it's really true? The same way you find out if ANYTHING is really true: Ask the MythBusters, obviously.

Critical List: EPA’s greenhouse report comes in for criticism; motorcycles are gross

The EPA and its inspector general disagree over what qualifies as a "scientific assessment." The EPA has concluded that greenhouse gases are dangerous; the IG now says that the assessment didn’t go through sufficient peer review. This is actually about the review of the relevant “technical support document,” not about the scientific findings, but tell that to Republicans.

The DOE gave a $737 million loan guarantee to a solar-tower project in Nevada, which had better the hell not fail now.

Motorcycles are more fuel efficient, but their tailpipe emissions contain nasty stuff.

It's Car Free Day! Let's celebrate with a traffic jam, like China did

Today is Car Free Day in the U.S., a holiday that will probably be celebrated by fewer people than Talk Like a Pirate Day. But we might still end up more observant than China, which had No Car Day yesterday -- and celebrated with a giant traffic jam.

The world's greenest car

Berkeley, Calif. news site Berkeleyside polled readers about what kind of car best embodies that famously granola town. The Volvo station wagon won out, but this shot by reader Ed probably better encompasses Berkeley's green leanings.